Emefiele: Court affirms Buhari’s approval for naira redesign as exhibit

High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has admitted the approval of former President Muhammadu Buhari for the re-design of Nigeria’s currency, the naira as exhibit.

The Court on Tuesday also admitted as exhibits, samples of the re-design currency as approved by former President Buhari.

The approval dated October 6, 2022 from the Presidential Villa which was personally signed by former President Buhari was conveyed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with Mr. Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele as governor to proceed with the project of redesigning and printing of the currency.

The Chief of Staff to former President, transmitted the written Presidential approval to the CBN.

The documents were tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its witness, a former Director of Currency Operations with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Ahmed Bello Umar, who was led in evidence by EFCC’S lead counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.

Umar, who claimed to have authored some memos in relation to the project however said that Emefiele partly departed from the approval of former President Buhari.

He told the Court that while the portraits in the samples endorsed by former President Buhari were on the right side, those printed have the portraits on the left side, adding that the numbering styles for the currency adopted by Emefiele were different from the modes adopted by CBN Board.

Umar further said that while the approved samples have QRO, those printed did not have the features.

Under cross examination by Mahmoud Magaji SAN, Counsel to Emefiele, Umar admitted that former President Buhari actually gave approval to the naira redesign project and specifically said that former President Buhari on December 29, 2023 publicly launched the re-designed naira currency for the use of Nigerians as legal tender.

The EFCC’s witness also said that the re-designed currency has his signature as the Director of Currency Operations, adding that no currency becomes legal tender without his signature.

The EFCC had on May 15, 2024, arraigned Emefiele on a four count charge before the FCT High Court sitting in Maitama-Abuja and presided over by Justice Maryanne Anenih.

Emefiele however denied the charge and was admitted to bail in the sum of N300 million naira.

In the four count charge, the EFCC claimed that Emefiele embarked on the naira redesign without the approval of the Board of the CBN as well as then President, Muhammadu Buhari.

The EFCC specifically accused Emefiele of approving the printing of various quantities of the new Naira notes without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, saying that the conduct of Emefiele caused injury to the public and thereby committed an offence.

In count one of the charges, the EFCC accused Emefiele of approving the printing of 375,520,000 notes at the cost of N11 billion while in count two, the anti-graft agency accused Emefiel of approving the printing of 172 million coloured swapped N500 notes at the cost of N4.4 billion.

Similarly, Count three indicated that the former CBN governor was accused by the EFCC of having approved for printing 137,070, pieces of coloured N200 notes at the cost of N3.4 billion.

The EFCC in Count four, accused Emefiele of alleged withdrawal of N124, 860, 227, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly.